Tears In The Afternoon
by MountaineerTookieClothespin
Summary: Sydney finds Francie going through some boxes from her childhood. And that's when Sydney realizes that she has none. But could Irina possibly have something up her sleeve? MotherDaughter. Please R&R! FINISHED!


Disclaimer: I do not own the Alias show or any of the characters.

"Hey Fran, I'm home." Sydney called as she walked in the front door.

"I'm in the living room." Francie called back.

Sydney dropped her luggage in her room, and headed for the living room.

Francie was camped out in front of the sofa, going through some boxes.

"Hey Syd. How was your trip?" Francie asked, as she looked up from her boxes.

"It was fine. I'm kind of tired though" Sydney replied.

"So what are you doing? What's in the boxes?" Sydney asked as she sat down beside Francie.

Francie's face lit up like a little kids on Christmas morning.

"These are my childhood memories" She squealed as she held up a little stuffed bear.

"What do you mean?" Sydney's face reflected her confusion.

"This is some old stuff from when I was a kid, and even some stuff from my teenage years.

"Cool" Sydney said as she picked up a stuffed giraffe.

"So what's this from?" Sydney asked, holding up the stuffed giraffe.

"That was from my first state fair. My dad won it for me at the ring toss." Francie explained.

Sydney grew a little sad at this declaration. Her dad hadn't done things like that with her, after her mother disappeared. She didn't know if he had been to busy, or just didn't want too.

Not wanting to ruin Francie's trip down memory lane, Sydney quickly swallowed her emotions.

Francie and Sydney sat in the living room for several hours going through the boxes. 

One of them would pick an item, and Francie would tell Sydney what it meant to her.

After they had finished going through everything in the boxes, Francie asked Sydney to get her childhood stuff so that she could see it.

Sydney stared at her for a minute before saying, "I don't have any."

Francie's eyes widened in shock. "What do you mean you don't have any?"

"I told you nanny's raised me. I don't know what happened to all of my toys and stuff. The different nanny's probably got rid of the old stuff as I outgrew it." Sydney stated simply.

"Oh. I'm really sorry Syd" Francie said.

"It's okay. I mean I wish that I had some stuff, but I'm not going to wallow in the fact that I don't." Sydney told her, before getting up to answer the ringing phone.

As Sydney headed for the phone, Francie got up and grabbed her car keys.

"I have to go to the restaurant" she called to Sydney.

"Okay. Have a nice day" Sydney called after her.

"Hello" Sydney said into the phone.

"Joey's Pizza" 

"Wrong number" Sydney said with a sigh.

Grabbing her car keys, she headed out the door.

A little while later, she pulled up in front of the warehouse.

Walking in, she found Vaughn waiting.

"Hi" she said.

"Hi" he replied.

Quickly she filled him in on her last mission.

After they had finished with business talk, Vaughn cleared his throat and asked, "So, how have you been?"

"I've been fine. But, you will never guess what I realized today" Sydney told him.

"What?" Vaughn asked.

"I don't have any mementos from my childhood" Sydney stated.

"What do you mean?" Vaughn asked.

"When I came in from my trip this morning, Francie was looking through some boxes of mementos from her childhood and teenage years. You know, stuffed animals, movie ticket stubs, stuff like that. And after we looked through her stuff, she asked me to pull out mine, and I realized I don't have any" Sydney finished.

"Wow" Vaughn said.

"I know" Sydney said.

"So, what do you think happened to all of your stuff?" Vaughn asked her.

"I told Fran, that my nanny's probably got rid of stuff as I outgrew it" Sydney told him.

"Your probably right. And hey I'm sorry" Vaughn added gently.

"It's okay. It's just one more thing. Ya know?"

"I know" Vaughn said softly.

"Well, I had better go. I kind of wanted to see my mom" Sydney told him.

Vaughn looked at her in surprise. "You do?" he asked.

"Yes. Things have gotten a lot better between us. I mean, no matter what she's still my mom" Sydney said, not quite meeting his eyes.

Vaughn noticed and said, "Hey, you can always talk to me. Even if it's about Irina, you can talk to me."

Sydney smiled gratefully at him. "Thanks. I appreciate it."

"Your welcome. Now get going and see your mom" Vaughn told her with a small smile.

Sydney smiled back. "Okay. Bye."

"Bye" Vaughn called to her retreating back.

A little bit later, Sydney approached her mothers cell.

Irina heard her coming and looked up.

"Hello Sydney" she said.

"Hi mom" Sydney answered.

Things between Sydney and Irina had improved drastically over the months. Sydney now visited her mother one to two times a week just for a chat.

They soon fell into a discussion of how Sydney's mission had been.

Sydney told her that everything had gone fine. 

Irina asked how here day was, which prompted Sydney to tell her about the memory boxes of Francie's, and how she realized that she had none.

Irina looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Sydney, I'm not sure if I should tell you this or not" Irina told her.

This statement of course piqued Sydney's interest immediately. "What is it? Tell me" Sydney said earnestly.

"Well, do you remember how I told you that various nanny's that you had in the past had been hired by me, so that I could keep an eye on you so to speak?" Irina asked her.

Sydney flinched momentarily. "Yes I remember."

"Well, I actually had them bring me some of your old toys and things" Irina admitted.

"What do you have of mine?" Sydney asked breathlessly.

Irina's eyes teared up slightly. "I have a lock of your hair, some baby clothes, your first stuffed animal, a pair of your first big girl shoes, some pictures of you, and various other childhood mementos" Irina finished.

By this time Sydney's own eyes had teared up. "Where are they?" she asked.

Irina told her where they were and how to find them.

"Please don't be mad Sydney. Even though I had to leave, I never quit loving you." Irina told her.

"I'm not mad. But I am surprised. And mom"

Irina took a deep breath. "Yes Sydney?"

"Mom, I love you too." Sydney said before she rushed off in tears.

Irina's tear filled gaze followed Sydney down the hallway. "I love you too," she whispered.

Vaughn was the only person Sydney told about the box.

As soon as he heard about it, he made it possible for her to go and get it.

Two days later, Sydney had the box and was at home going through it privately.

She knew that she couldn't share it with Francie, because Francie would want to know how she got it. So, Sydney spent the afternoon going through it alone and crying softly.

A/N: So, what did you guys think? Did you like it? Please click the little, purple button and leave a review, so that I at least know that you read it. Please keep all reviews G rated with no bleeped out with stars or implied cuss words. Thanks.


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